Dear Editor,

MP Peter Braid is acting recklessly, putting his community members’ health at risk. He is supporting legislation that will reduce food safety oversight and make major cuts to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Canadians remember the devastating impact on many families from deaths caused by the Listeriosis outbreaks. We know that more needs to be done to protect consumers, but in a callous and misguided move the Conservatives are making the problem worse. They have decided to... Read more

Dear Editor,

When undertaking the most expensive military procurement ever, respect for hard-earned taxpayer dollars should be priority number one. But when it comes to the costs of the F-35 stealth fighter jets, Peter Braid and the Conservative Party failed to be up front with Canadians.

Braid claimed in Parliament that "the F-35 is the right plane for the Canadian Air Force at the right time for our country." (November 18, 2010)

But the recent Auditor General’s report has shredded... Read more

Many readers may have heard about the “robocall” Election Fraud Scandal in recent months. By now people have heard the reports of phone calls designed to deter supporters of particular parties from casting their ballot by misdirecting them to the wrong polling site, or harassing them so they won’t vote at all.

What may surprise readers, however, is that this election fraud was perpetrated in their own backyard, and the effects are very real. The Liberal Party has received multiple,... Read more

The Harper Government is committed to ensuring the sustainability of the Old Age Security program for future generations.

As recently announced in Economic Action Plan 2012, we plan to gradually increase the age of eligibility for OAS to age 67, beginning in 2023.

Canadians who are 54 or older on March 31, 2012 (born on or before March 31, 1958) will still be eligible to apply for OAS at age 65.

There will be no reductions to the amount collected,... Read more

Dear Editor,

People in Waterloo are about to lose access to CBC and Radio Canada because of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.

The CBC and Radio Canada television transmitters in Waterloo are being forced to shut down because the Federal Budget took the axe to CBC-Radio Canada’s operating budget. As a result, residents who get their TV signal from traditional over-the-air signal will be cut off from CBC and Radio Canada broadcasts. Particularly hard hit are seniors, students and the unemployed.

To the young man, presumably Laurier student who harassed me and my 12-year-old sister on the sidewalk Thursday evening, congratulations. You take first place in the Douchiest of Douchebag Awards out of all the "Bunny Hop" pub crawl participants. Incredible.

To loudly shout into my little sister's ear at 8 p.m. on Albert Street as we walked by a bunch of pre-drunken students — truly outstanding. You did it. You solidified my growing conviction that Laurier is more and more... Read more

On March 31, a team of four WLU BBA’s (class of 2010) along with 300 other guests held a charity gala in Support of the Alzheimer Society of Toronto. The inaugural Memory Ball, was held at a downtown Toronto loft venue, Andrew Richards Designs.

The goal of the event was to raise awareness for the Alzheimer Society within a younger demographic. Alzheimer's is typically understood to be an 'elderly' disease; however, prevalence among the under 60 age bracket continues to... Read more

Dear Editor,

Are you prepared to give up $13,000 during your golden years? MP Peter Braid and Prime Minister Stephen Harper think you are. That’s what the average Canadian will have to give up thanks to the federal budget introduced by the Conservative Party last week.

The Budget cuts retirement benefits by raising the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement from 65 to 67 years, forcing Canadians to postpone their retirement for 2 years.... Read more

When the two women co-presidents of a campus club conducting an event in the Toyota Solarium were recently confronted by a uniformed senior member of the campus police and told to take down a poster he deemed to be hate speech, they refused, so he took it down himself. This happened here, at this university, in broad daylight, and was reported in The Cord (March 21). While awaiting the University’s response to this prima facie violation of the students’ right... Read more

With all the recent coverage LSPIRG has received in The Cord recently, I thought some clarification would be beneficial: LSPIRG is a student-run non-profit organization operating at Laurier for the benefit of the Laurier student population and the greater K-W community.

All Laurier students are LSPIRG members, unless they choose to opt out of the per-semester fee of $5.11. Membership means students have access to all LSPIRG’s events and workshops, can apply for special event or working group funding, have... Read more

Both the editorial and article about the Rainbow demonstration at UW were textbook examples of the skewed framing of protests: “Protesters were held back by a metal barrier and monitored by police” and “police officers were standing by to ensure safety.”

This is a troubling misrepresentation of the situation. We were not “held back” by a metal barrier. We (hardly just students, by the way!) were standing quietly on one side of the entrance for obvious logistical reasons. There was... Read more

I am concerned that an article of such poor journalistic standards has been printed in The Cord. Not only is it full of grammatical errors and providing a skewed and incomplete account of the events that took place on campus, but it takes a radical anti-Israel stance in what should be a balanced news article.

It is absolutely inappropriate for a news article in The Cord to be making the claim that there is “apartheid of the [sic] Palestine.” This... Read more

I am extremely disappointed with the article written in this past week’s issue of The Cord regarding Israeli Apartheid Week.

Firstly, did you know that neither the author nor the editor were actually present at any of the IAW events? How can you claim to provide an accurate representation of the incidents that occurred at an event that you didn’t even go to?

Another issue I had with this article was that the author should have contacted students who attended... Read more

There are a lot of misconceptions, sometimes even bitterness, among students or even young alumni about their university raising funds for its own cause. Even with tuition fees and government support, extra funding is essential for any academic organization to successfully thrive in today’s competitive and constant accelerating world. The Student Philanthropy Council aims to raise awareness of the impact of donations and help pave the way toward building a culture and understanding of philanthropy among Laurier students.

Last week,... Read more

Re: Legacy of media distorting Soviet Union January 25

It is true that Russophobia is a legitimate problem, judging by the abhorrent depiction of Russians as callous villains in western media (the Modern Warfare games being the worst offenders by far). It is also true that the United States did many bad things during the Cold War (McCarthyist witch hunts, Vietnam).

America also deserves flak for abandoning Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed, allowing Russia to become overtaken by corruption... Read more

Re: LMT impresses with theatrical talents

Last year the The Cord reviewed the annual Laurier Musical Theatre production and made the absurd observation that “LMT is the last frontier for musical performers at Laurier.” A music student leader wrote to The Cord, pointed out the inaccuracy, a retraction of sorts was printed, and life goes on.

This year The Cord again reviewed the LMT production and repeated the same absurdity as last year. Do you simply cut and paste from... Read more

Last week’s issue of The Cord had a piece discussing the nominees for this year’s Grammy Awards. I commend the authors for pointing out that the Grammys are controversial and also indicating who they think “should win” versus who “will win.” I only wish they had gone further with this.

At the end of the day, only Album of the Year really matters—everything else are just booby prizes. I find it depressing that no one mentioned the notable absence of... Read more

I just wanted to congratulate The Cord on a fine issue (Nov. 30). Lively, wide-ranging, informed, "on-the-ball" - it was full of stories and columns that were valuable, informative about Laurier and worth reading. This assessment stands as a corrective to some critical remarks I made to Lindsay Purchase when she interviewed me for the G20 verdicts piece. Those remarks were ill-considered, largely through being poorly informed. So I made a point of reading the last issue carefully. Well done.... Read more

I was both shocked and appalled by The Cord’s recent choice to close the online comment section on the article entitled “Are faith and reason incompatible?” This choice stopped a respectful, polite and progressive debate about an article which raised an important issue, namely how Christians and Atheists can have a dialogue about issues of faith.

Commenters were addressing each other respectfully and having real back and forth on the issue while using quotes from each other and other works... Read more

An article appeared in a recent issue of The Cord (“Cuts continue in Languages department”) that raises important issues about recent developments in the department of languages and Literatures. However, it does not present the complete picture of what has been happening in the department.

Languages and Literatures has seen enormous growth over the past few years. Student enrolments have more than doubled since 2005. The vibrant Laurier French Club now has more than 200 members. We will be opening... Read more